A friend invited me for dessert recently, and when I mentioned that I am trying to be sugar-free, her response was, “Eating sweet foods reminds us of the sweetness in life – in times like these,” she said, “we need the reminder.”
I couldn’t argue with that!
So while chocolate is not, in any realm of the imagination, an Ayurvedic ingredient, maybe the company of good friends and a little indulgence now and then is it’s own good medicine?
When I want something sweet, I often reach for a date. Or a spoonful of almond butter. This date bark combines some of my favorite healthy sweet foods, into a very satisfying bite.
Mind you, this is sweet in the sense of the Six Tastes, where sweet is the category of foods that combine the earth and water elements to tonify, ground, moisten, strengthen and calm. Late autumn and early winter are seasons of wind, which can be drying, ungrounding, depleting. So an argument can be made for more nuts and a date or two each day. Chocolate is the bonus.
Did you know about the benefits of dates?
Dates are a demulcent, and an analgesic, so they are pacifying, calming, reduce heart rate, counter stress. Dates also contain phyto-hormones that resemble oxytocin, so these sweet fruits can make us sweeter too 😉
In Ayurveda, dates are acknowledged for their cooling, fortifying, rejuvenating properties that nourish whole body wellness. Dates are known to tone the reproductive organs, promote fertility, balance pitta and vata.
Now that the holidays are coming and sweet treats will be ubiquitous, this makes a great gift. It is exquisitely good, and good for you. I loved sharing plates of these at the holidays when people were “tired of all the sugar.”
Chocolate Date Bark
Great with roasted nuts and seeds as it gives a perfect salty crunch to counter the soft and chewy of the dates. I sprinkled the very slightest bit of pink salt over it after it’s set, careful not to overdo it if the nuts or seeds are already salted.
Ingredients
8-10 Medjool dates
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons peanut butter, or almond butter
1 bag dark chocolate chips (Hu, Lily’s, Enjoy Life and Ghirardelli are healthy, no-sugar options)
Optional toppings: Roasted almonds, pistachios, cashews, pumpkin seeds, pomegranate, broken peppermint sticks, cardamom, cinnamon, pink salt
Intructions
Pit the dates and put them in an electric blender. If the coconut oil is solid, melt it. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the dates and pulse to just barely break down the dates.
Spread the dates on the baking tray. Put a little oil on your hands and mush down the dates. Spread evenly, keeping the dates touching, patching up any holes.
Drizzle the peanut butter, or almond butter, over the dates.
In a double boiler, add all the chocolate except 1 handful. Melt the chocolate, stirring frequently. As soon as it is melted, remove from heat and stir in the tablespoon you had kept out. Keep stirring until completely melted, then pour over the dates and PB.
Sprinkle your toppings over the chocolate and refrigerate. Leave to cool and firm for at least one hour. Remove and break into bark.
Store in the refrigerator and enjoy within 5 days.
Dosha modifications
This is not something you’d see at an Ayurvedic clinic, so this is more of an exception to Ayurveda. Still, if you want to try to make it more balancing for your constitution, you can try this.
Vata: Cardamom and salt help digest the heaviness of the dates
Pitta: Reduce or omit salt, spice
Kapha: No salt, stir cinnamon in to the chocolate once melted
